WOMEN WIN: CANNES FESTIVAL SIGNS GENDER EQUALITY CHARTER

Change happens when the people in power decide to take a stand. So 82 women including Cate Blanchett, Ava Duvernay, Kristen Stewart and more stood in solidarity on the steps of the Palais des Festivales at Cannes Festival on May 12.

The protest, which was coordinated by a French intersectional power movement in arts and entertainment called 5050 pour 2020, aimed to shine a light on inequality in the film industry - and it worked.

On May 14, three male Cannes Festival chiefs including Thierry Frémaux, Édourd Waintrop and Charles Tesson signed a charter pledge for gender parity and inclusion according to Deadline. This is the beginning of a journey that will carry on from now until 2020. At the completion of this campaign, the organization and its fight to restore the balance of power could become a reality.

But it's going to take the support of both men and women as Cannes demonstrated because men sit on the majority of the boards, own the majority of the studios and make the majority of the hiring decisions. Like with most things in life, this change will take time.

It'll be easier said than done seeing as the patriarchy has reigned supreme for the past 2,000 years. But, women are responsible for birthing the entire world, they are definitely capable of birthing a new movement of inclusion in industries that have a diversity deficiency.

FOR MORE STATISTICS ON THE STATE OF THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY AND ITS LACK OF DIVERSITY, CHECK OUT THE 50/50 BY 2020 SITE / PHOTO CREDIT: 50/50 BY 2020